PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- GEA Niro has selected engineering simulation software from ANSYS (NASDAQ: ANSS) to optimize equipment design and reduce development time and costs. Based in Denmark, GEA Niro is a world market leader in drying technology for the dairy, food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries and is a core technology center in the GEA Process Engineering business segment in GEA Group. GEA Niro provides process equipment, process technology and know-how to those industries. The suite from ANSYS enables customers to optimize designs throughout the product development process, especially in the early stages when changes can be efficiently and cost-effectively implemented.

GEA Niro is applying engineering simulation as it develops equipment and processes for transforming liquids into powders, a major consideration in the dairy, food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Drying plants are becoming increasingly important in processing safer, "greener" and more profitable products. Optimizing the drying process requires an in-depth understanding of complex flow and thermal exchange phenomena, and ANSYS(R) software helps engineers to simulate real-world conditions in performing comprehensive analysis. Simulation results can be used to minimize energy requirements without compromising product quality.

The process industry company chose ANSYS as a strategic software partner because the product portfolio covers all GEA Niro's simulation needs, now and for the foreseeable future. "We have used fluid dynamics simulations for two decades, continually working to perfect the analyses and to make the most accurate modeling predictions within our technologies," said Thorvald Ullum, fluid mechanics manager, GEA Niro. "For example, GEA Niro developed the DRYNETICS(TM) method as a way of improving the reliability of the simulation of the spray-drying process. Now we're expanding our simulation facilities, using ANSYS software, to decrease the simulation time and further improve the results in areas such as high-turbulence, particle-laden flows."

"GEA Niro is an excellent example of a pioneer company applying innovative engineering simulation technology to a new range of applications -- just as other innovators did in their once-emerging industries, setting the standards for design problem-solving," said Adrian Booth, Northern Europe regional director at ANSYS.

About GEA Process Engineering

GEA Process Engineering develops, designs, and markets production plant equipment and processes for the dairy, brewery, food, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. With sales of more than EUR 1 billion in 2008 and 4,500 employees working in 26 countries, GEA Process Engineering is recognized as a world leader within liquid processing, industrial drying, and aseptic packaging. GEA Process Engineering is a business segment of the GEA Group, headquartered in Germany.

About GEA Niro

GEA Niro is a core technology center in GEA Process Engineering, a business segment of the GEA Group. The technology center is a world leader in industrial drying and maintains a focus on its core technologies that include spray, freeze, and flash drying, as well as fluid bed processing. GEA Niro supplies process units and complete process lines for powder production to the food, dairy, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. The technology center is headquartered in Denmark with close to 500 employees. For more information, contact Fluid Mechanics Manager Thorvald Ullum at +45 39545784.

About ANSYS, Inc.

ANSYS, Inc., founded in 1970, develops and globally markets engineering simulation software and technologies widely used by engineers, designers, researchers and students across a broad spectrum of industries and academia. The company focuses on the development of open and flexible solutions that enable users to analyze designs directly on the desktop, providing a common platform for fast, efficient and cost-conscious product development, from design concept to final-stage testing and validation. The company and its global network of channel partners provide sales, support and training for customers. Headquartered in Canonsburg, Pa., U.S.A., with more than 60 strategic sales locations throughout the world, ANSYS, Inc. and its subsidiaries employ more than 1,600 people and distribute ANSYS products through a network of channel partners in 40+ countries. Visit www.ansys.com for more information.

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